This week was unintentionally a week of running alone… solo… sans friends. It all started when on Tuesday morning I left my house, but only made it about a half mile when that rumbly in my tumbly told me I’d best turn my car around and go home. I texted my friends to let them I know that I wouldn’t be showing up for my run and for them to go without me. 🙁  I stayed in my immediate neighborhood where I live on a circle that’s a half mile around and I’d wouldn’t be too far from my house… and indoor plumbing. My neighbors’ cars would be coming and going, but at 5:30 AM I usually don’t have too much to worry about.

I did learn that this private school bus arrives around 6 AM and waits until 6:20 when it’s time to pick up one of the new children on our street. I took the picture from a distance so the driver wouldn’t think I was stalking him, but he never even looked up from his phone.

 

I’d planned to meet my friends for our usual run on Thursday, but the 16° (feels like 5°) caused them to reschedule to Friday, a day that I can’t run. No biggy, I come from hardy farm stock and headed out on my own, once again staying on my circle so that I alternated having my back to the wind for a quarter mile and then running into the wind for a quarter mile. I wore my Buff neck gaiter (affiliate link) all the way up on my face the whole time and definitely had a love/hate relationship with it. I loved that it kept my face from freezing, but hated how it stuck to my mouth and I hated the smell even more… Does my breath really smell that badly?

 

Normally, I only talk about my runs on my weekly wrap and save my strength training sessions as a passing mention on my weekly run-down infographic at the bottom of my post. This week, I’ve decided to mention my daily planks because I find them so beneficial. Most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I find time between clients to lift weights in my basement gym. Everyday, though, I plank for five minutes. I do a varied combination of straight-arm, forearm, side, side star, and reverse planks to fill my five minutes, while never lowering to the ground.

My lower back thanks me for holding these plank positions every day and over the last almost two years I’ve noticed a remarkable improvement in how my back feels and the frequency of it giving me problems. I started with a minute or so and worked my way up to where I am.

 

After my workout I headed out to teach my balance and stretching class. After class one of my new participants (who also takes my beginner’s boot camp class) told me that she’s walking so much better and more confidently  just three weeks into taking my classes. Hearing stories like this is why I do what I do!

Friday afternoon while shopping at Wegman’s I found the perfect little sign for Bill and me. Even though we travel to visit my mom, the kids, or to spend time at the beach house, we’ve both homebodies and this so describes us!

 

Saturday morning I once again headed out solo for my run. I was delighted that it was a balmy 35° when I left my house, with a forecast of warming up rather quickly to 40° before I finished my eight miles. I smartly wore a short sleeved shirt, but made the mistake of wearing capris which were too warm. I was thrilled to average a 9:10 pace for those eight miles since I didn’t have anyone pushing me.

 

After my turnaround, I saw my husband riding toward me. As we met I said, “Hi Babe,” just as another biker came up from behind me and passed right between Bill and me. The other biker was cracking up because it could just as easily have been him that I was calling Babe. 😉

 

Let’s hope my running friends and I are reunited this coming week!

 

And in case you missed checking in on my blog this past week I posted…

Looking ahead to this coming week, on Tuesday I’ll post Tips For Capturing Your Best Ever Running Pictures, a summary post where I can keep all my running photography posts together in one tidy little place. Thursday’s got Runfessions fun, and on and if I have time, I’ll post an Ask Deb at some point this week!

 

Here’s a run-down of my workouts from this past week…

 

Fitness tools beyond the equipment in my gym that I used during the week included:

Cameras used for blog photography include:

 

  • Questions:
  • When you run in extremely cold weather and have to put something over your face, does it smell badly or is it just me?
  • Are you a homebody?  
  • Did you have a temporary warmup this week? 

 

Have a great week!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.

 

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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking The Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!